A doping scandal shocked the equestrian games on their final day, as leading Norwegian rider Tony Andre Hansen and three others were disqualified when their horses tested positive for a banned drug.

Hansen's test may also retroactively affect the Norwegian team's bronze-medal win in the show-jumping event on Monday. The decision was awaiting the testing of a second sample.

The positive drug tests on the four show jumpers' horses was described as a blow to equestrianism.

Hansen, who with Camiro was leading the individual jumping contest after the first three rounds, was provisionally suspended along with Brazil's Bernardo Alves (Chupa Chup), Ireland's Denis Lynch (Latinus), and Germany's Christian Ahlmann (Coster).

All of their horses were said to have tested positive for capsaicin, a derivative of the chili pepper that is used in both human and veterinary medication as a painkiller. It is classified as a "doping" substance because of its hypersensitising properties, and as a class-A medication because of its pain-relieving properties.

The substance was found in the horses' blood or urine samples taken Tuesday.

Hansen, who has never won an individual medal, lead all riders with just 3 penalty points after three rounds. Four other riders were tied for second with 4 penalty points.

As for the potential stripping of the Norwegian team's medal?

"That is not yet determined," International Equestrian Federation (FEI) Secretary General Alexander McLin said yesterday. "The determination for disqualification is for the International Equestrian Federation Tribunal to make."

FEI Jumping Committee Chairman Sven Holmberg stressed the seriousness of the tests.

"It is a serious blow to the sport," he said. "We are very well aware of the implications to show jumping and equestrian sports in general. One reason is that the four cases tested positive for the same substance. We are not sure if we can call that a trend, but it adds to the seriousness."

But Holmberg fell short of saying whether equestrianism as an Olympic sport is in jeopardy.

"I would not like to speculate," he said. "The International Olympic Committee looks at the sport from a broader perspective. Our procedure seems to function well."

When used, the banned substance is often applied to the horses' legs as a topical lotion or paste, causing the horse to lift up its legs.

It has long been banned, but tests have only recently been able to detect it, FEI Veterinary Commission associate member Paul Farrington said.

Ahlmann, ranked 31st after the third qualifier, was notified of his suspension on Wednesday and shown the test results. The remaining three riders were notified yesterday.

Lynch and Alves were ranked 8th and 27th, respectively, after the third qualifier.

Preliminary hearings were held with the respective national federations before a member of the FEI Tribunal who confirmed each rider's suspension, an FEI release said.

Lynch, for one, spoke out against the ruling, expressing disappointment in not being allowed to compete.

He had been in a tie for eighth place with three other riders, all with 8 penalty points, after the qualifying rounds. All scores were reset to zero yesterday.

"I feel that I am robbed of the chance to compete," he said, clearly upset.

His veterinarian, Marcus Swail, said Lynch had been using a lotion called Equiblock for more than a year to loosen Lantinus's muscles. Swail said the lotion label says it contains Capsaicin, but he said it also indicates a test for the substance wouldn't detect it in a horse's system.

"He has been using it for a long time, and there hasn't been a positive test until this test," Swail said.

Farrington said 15 horses - 12 chosen randomly and three from the medal winning teams - were tested. A second test will be conducted today.

In Athens four years ago, Germany was stripped of its team gold medal because of doping. The individual jumping gold medalist, Ireland's Cian O'Connor, also had his gold medal taken away because of doping.

(HK Edition 08/22/2008 page1)